Chapter 3 She Stole Things

  The fire-attribute classroom and other parallel classrooms are in a separate school building, at a considerable distance from the Puppetry classroom located in a remote northwest corner of the campus. There is a barrier set up here that makes it always spring-like, even if there's strong winds, rain or heavy snowfall everywhere else, these students have created this environment for their training purposes.

  Yunhai Fan lugged a large bucket of magical cleaning solution from the Puppetry class to the Fire Magic class, already panting heavily. With the temperature warming up, even her thick clothing was drenched in sweat. She took off her jacket and hung it outside the door, rolled up her sleeves, and prepared to get to work.

  It's not difficult to clean the classroom that is supposed to be dust-free under the protection of the boundary, but students in the parallel class have a one-hour trial lesson before school dismissal. The students' magic will not cause great damage to the classroom, but it will leave various ugly marks that can only be washed away with special magical cleaning liquid.

  Yun Hai Fan gazed out the window at the setting sun, a vast expanse of crimson red that dazzled her eyes. The row of sparkling windows seemed like giant screens, clearly projecting the entire sunset process. Her shadow was cast on the floor in the center of the classroom, heavily pressed down by the scorch marks left by the fiery tongues, making it hard for anyone to breathe.

  Still shadow sinks into the depths.

  Yun Hai Fan didn't know why he thought of such a phrase, but the distant sunset seemed like a piece of jade that pierced through his bones, emitting a lingering warmth that only made people feel a chill to the bone. The vibrant colors before him seemed like a phantom from his past life, unclear when it was seen, yet still vivid and clear.

  The scorch marks on the floor were easy to remove, but those on the ceiling... Yunhai Fan shook her head and looked at the desks surrounding her in a circle. She moved one over and climbed up shakily to wipe away the marks on the ceiling. A strange, faint scent wafted around her, and she glanced around in confusion, unable to find the source of the smell. As the sky grew darker, she didn't think much of it and quickly finished cleaning the ceiling before putting the desks back in place and leaving.

  The next morning, Wen Zhan brought An Su to the Puppetry class with a menacing aura. Yun Hai Fan thought there was nothing wrong and remained silent with his head down, but he had an ominous premonition that reached deep into his heart.

  "Cloud Sea Sail." Ansu shouted at Cloud Sea Sail under Wen's silent permission, "Why did you steal my things!"

  An Su's voice was loud and sharp, startling the classmates who had just arrived at class to look at Yun Hai Fan. Yun Hai Fan avoided everyone's gaze and walked towards An Su, his voice low and slow: "What did I steal from you?"

  "You said——" Ansu's index finger touched the tip of Yunhai Fan's nose, "Did you steal my red crystal?"

  "Red crystal?" Yun Hai Fan stared straight into An Su's eyes, "What use would I have for it?"

  "At least you can let me not have a way to refine my magic wand." Ansu decided to carry the frame-up through to the end, "Don't think that because puppetry doesn't need a magic wand you can shake off suspicion, yesterday after class besides you no one else came to our classroom, if it's not you then who could it be?"

  "Why don't you set a boundary on the crystal? As far as I know, if you set one, ordinary people can't open it, like me." Yun Hai Fan looked at her with an innocent face. Since An Su had already decided to let Yun Hai Fan take the fall for being a thief, waiting to die like this was too humiliating.

  "You didn't know that setting a seal on an object like the Red Crystal, which has magic in itself, would damage it? However, your ignorance cannot absolve you of guilt." Ansu sneered at her, "In order to enhance the magical effect of the Red Crystal, I once asked my teacher about it. He recommended that Teacher Wenyue's Osmanthus fragrance could achieve this effect. And Teacher Wenyue kindly helped me with it." As she spoke, Ansu stretched out her slender right hand, admiring her own nails as if appreciating their beauty. Her tone was filled with self-satisfaction: "Unfortunately, the Osmanthus fragrance is perfect in every way, except that its scent lingers inside the Red Crystal. Normally, it's not a problem to smell it. But if someone has ulterior motives and tries to do something bad, they'll be discovered as soon as they take a sniff."

  This time her fingernails were painted with a white base and red flowers, the bright red dots seemed like red plum blossoms in the snow, dazzling. Just like her as a person, she had to pierce through the sea of clouds whether openly or secretly.

  Yun Hai Fan was silent and didn't make a sound, as if she couldn't understand the meaning of her words. Although she had a humble and obedient appearance, somehow it still made people feel her discontent.

  "In order to prevent Yun Hai Fan from saying that I'm framing you, I've specially invited Teacher Wen as a witness -" An Su turned his head slightly towards Wen Xuan, instantly changing into a respectful and polite demeanor, "Teacher Wen, please -"

  Wen nodded slightly, coughed lightly twice, and looked at Yun Hai Fan with an inexplicable cold arrogance. He suddenly raised his hand, and a tangible spiritual force directly attacked Yun Hai Fan's seat. Her backpack was roughly torn open by the spiritual force, and a fiery red crystal leapt out of her backpack like it had broken free from its restraints. The next second, it appeared before their eyes.

  "There's a saying, isn't there? Facts speak louder than words." An Su's eyebrows and eyes were smiling, with a malicious smile, "Knowing one's mistakes and correcting them is a good comrade, hurry up and admit your mistake and I can still forgive you."

  "This..." Yun Hai Fan felt a bit dizzy, her throat moved slightly as she tried to remain calm, "If it's moving with magic, it's a bit difficult for me, but it's easy for you guys."

  "Indeed." Ansu watched Yun Hai Fan struggle with great patience, finding it entertaining to see him walk step by step towards despair. "However, didn't I just say that setting up a barrier would harm the Red Crystal? Similarly, other compulsive magic is the same. Do you think Wen teacher used teleportation earlier? Oh no, poor child, actually he just cast a small tracking spell, and the Red Crystal came out because of the resonance from Yang Su Xiang."

  The familiar fragrance lingered on the tip of Yunhai Fan's nose, and she was suddenly startled, coming to her senses. The fragrance she had smelled yesterday came from Yangsu Xiang, and the problem lay in the table she had moved yesterday.

  That table... Yun Haiyan's heart twisted fiercely, the sour taste spreading out... That table was placed in the most convenient location, as long as there were marks from sweeping the ceiling, it would definitely be moved, even if she wanted to move another one, she feared that there was magic that made her unable to escape.

  As long as she herself had been tainted with the fragrance of Osmanthus fragrans, it wouldn't be so difficult to frame her for the red crystal at any time.

  Ansu seemed to be relentless, a bright smile was like sprinkling salt on Yunhai Fan's wound, making it unforgettable: "You moved the table yesterday, didn't you?"

  "That was for..."

  An Su made a halting gesture: "I don't care what you're doing it for, I just ask if you've moved or not."

  "...have..." Yun Hai Fan spat out this word with great difficulty, and felt a chill run down his back.

  An Su didn't say another word, but instead shifted his gaze to Wen Zhan, who had been silent the whole time. Wen Zhan looked serious for a long while before finally speaking up: "Since you've already admitted it, I'll just go ahead and announce your punishment..."

  In contrast to He Ansu's arrogance, Wen Zhan was quite cautious: "Given Yun Hai Fan's consistently poor behavior, you will be suspended for a month and will sort books in the library for a month as punishment."